pocket. ‘Sorry, Lorne,’ she murmured. ‘But I’m not sure. Not yet.’
16
Downstairs in the conservatory, Pippa was sitting with the liaison officer. She had a diary open on her lap and seemed to be going through her plans for the next month or so. Maybe they were discussing funerals, press conferences. Outside, Mr Wood was still thrashing the life out of the tree. When Pippa heard Zoe come down she stopped talking. She closed the book and came through into the hallway. ‘All finished?’
‘Just one or two questions.’
‘That’s OK. I want to help.’
‘Lorne had a big circle of friends?’
‘A big circle? Oh, God, yes. I couldn’t keep up with it. From the moment she hit fifteen and I gave her a phone and keys to the house I only ever saw her when she brought people back here. They’re a nightmare, teenagers, absolute nightmare. Sometimes you just want to crawl under a…’ She trailed off. As if it had just dawned on her that there’d never be another teenager to make her life a misery. ‘Yes, well…’ She rubbed her arms convulsively and glanced back at the kitchen. ‘Yes. Anyway, did you want some more coffee?’
‘That’s OK,’ Zoe said gently. ‘I’ve had enough to send me to the moon and back. Can I ask you, though, about her friends? Were they mostly from the school?’
‘No.’ Pippa shook her head. ‘No, not really. They were from all over. She was always talking to people. And I think with the way she looked she – she had lots of boys who recognized her. I don’t know where she gets it from – not me, that’s for sure.’
‘But not one special boyfriend?’
‘No.’
‘Can I ask you the million-dollar question?’
‘What? Was she a virgin? Is that it?’
‘Someone’s going to have to ask it eventually. It’s not that she’s in the defence stand here. It’s just that we need to build a better picture.’
‘Yes, I know. I’ve already been told by the-’ She glanced back to where the liaison officer was sitting, studying his laptop. ‘I know it’s an important question. He said it would be, said it could be relevant.’ She put her finger to her forehead and kept it there, as if she was concentrating very hard on something. Like keeping her balance. ‘I don’t know, is the honest truth. If you wanted me to put money on it I’d say no. But please don’t tell other people that. I don’t want it gossiped about.’
‘You don’t remember anyone with the initials “RH”, do you?’
‘No. Doesn’t ring any bells. Why?’
‘Just wondering. What about the name Zeb Juice? Does that mean anything to you?’
Pippa gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Yes, I’m afraid so. Zebedee Juice. It’s an agency in George Street.’
‘An agency?’
‘Modelling. I told you – Lorne was under the impression she’d be the next Kate Moss, so when the agency agreed to see her I was worried – very worried. As you can imagine.’
‘What sort of modelling do they deal with?’
‘What sort? Well – I don’t know. The usual, of course. Fashiony stuff. Catwalk.’
So not the kind of modelling in the pictures. Zoe felt better to hear that. ‘What happened – when she went to the agency?’
‘They told her she wasn’t tall enough. They weren’t interested, thank God.’
‘You were pleased?’
‘Of course I was pleased.’ Pippa sounded faintly annoyed. ‘What mother wouldn’t be? It was a ridiculous dream.’
Zoe didn’t answer that. Outside the conservatory four magpies had appeared on the lawn and were hopping around, making feints at each other.
‘Is that all? Is that all you need?’
‘For the time being. Yes, it is. Thank you.’
She felt in her pocket for her car keys and was halfway out of the door when Pippa said suddenly, ‘I was at school with you, wasn’t I?’
Zoe turned back slowly. ‘I didn’t like to point it out.’
‘You were good at games and you were clever. Really clever. You used to win all the quizzes. Did you go to university? Everyone said you would.’
‘University? No. I dropped out. Travelled the world and ended up back here. Broke my father’s back financially, putting me and my sister through school, and look what I did to repay him.’ She gave a rueful smile. ‘Went into the cops.’
‘I didn’t know you had a sister.’
‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘She went to a different school – softer than the one we were at. The sort that turns out good wives.’
‘How come you went to different schools?’
‘Oh, you know,’ she said evasively. ‘We couldn’t get on somehow. Like you said – amazing how you combine the same genes and get two totally different people.’
‘And you?’ Pippa said. ‘How about you? Did you have children?’
‘No.’
Pippa took a breath to reply – and in that second, in the slight pause, Zoe saw the cracks. The human being in there. As if the terrified Pippa Wood, the one who wouldn’t know where to begin or end dealing with this horror, had peeped out of her eyes. It was a flash, just a fleeting moment, a panicked, screaming Picasso face, a terror that Zoe was going to answer,
‘Goodbye,’ she said, and turned away abruptly, closing the door behind her.
Zoe was left standing in the sunlight with the sound of Mr Wood’s saw, and the low chug-chug-chug of a barge going past on the canal.
17
All day at work people talked about Lorne Wood. Every place Sally cleaned someone would mention it, would shake their head and say how terrible it was – as if she was one of their own children. Sally didn’t much want to talk about it, she didn’t want to think about how easily it could have been Millie. This morning she’d taken the spoiled tarot card out of the pack and hidden it in a drawer. The remainder were wrapped in a cloth inside her tote bag because today she was working near the hippie shop, and there might be an opportunity to go in and show the cards to the owner. But in the end she couldn’t summon up the courage. Instead she locked them in the boot of the car and tried to stop thinking about them.
It was the day she sometimes picked up Millie from school, rather than let her take the bus. She parked in a street opposite, along with all the other mothers, their windows open to watch the gates. Nial and Peter came out and passed, holding up a hand to say hi to her, then, after a short interval, Sophie on her own. The moment she saw Sally she hurried over to the car. ‘Mrs Benedict, Millie’s still in the classroom. She wants you to go and get her.’
‘Why?’
‘I don’t know. She’s upset.’
